Tuesday, 6 October 2009

Katie Richardson AS Media Preliminary Task

For my preliminary task, I have been asked to design a Sussex Downs college magazine using Adobe InDesign. I have chosen teenage students as the target audience for my college magazine and it is called "EC" which stands for "Everything college".


These are the flat plans I made in the process of designing my magazine. One is for the front cover and the other is for the contents page of the magazine.
I decided that the masthead for my magazine would be bold, a different font to the rest of text and biggest on the page. This is so that it stands out and attracts attention. Underneath the masthead I used the tagline "everything college" which is what the masthead stands for. This is so that the readers know what the magazine is about.
I used informative language and I avoided using too formal language in my main flash and main sells so that it would appeal to my target audience as I feel they would be happier reading something more relaxed. I also personalised my strap line by using the word "your" to get the reader involved.
On the cover of my magazine I put the issue number and the date of issue. This is so that the target audience knows they are reading the most up to date issue of the magazine. I did not use price or a bar code as this is a college magazine for students which will be free.
The layout of my contents page was simple yet effective. It involved words and pictures so that the layout of the page wasn't boring. This would appeal to my target audience because they wouldn't want to read a magazine that was loads of writing. I kept my contents in easy to read and easy to find categories for an easy read. I used the brand logo at the top of the contents page to give a feel of familiarity to the magazine.



These are the two photographs I took for the front cover of my magazine. The first photo was not a suitable choice for my magazine as I took the photograph in landscape which would not fit precisely onto the cover the way I wanted it too. Also you cannot see directly into the persons eyes as his hair is in the way and his head is tilted at an odd angle. Therefore I chose to use the second photograph for the cover of my magazine. Firstly because the background suited my cover story for my magazine. Secondly, the photograph is in portrait and would fit my magazine perfectly the way I wanted. Furthermore, the person in the photo is looking directly at the camera and is smiling which will appeal to the target audience as they would not want to read a magazine that seemed unfriendly or uninviting.


I am pleased with the final outcome of my college magazine for students. I think to improve my magazine cover I should make the writing stand out more so that it is easier to read and also include some more main sells so that the magazine looks like it contains more. To improve my contents page I would use a different colour background to make it look less plain. I am pleased with the cover of my magazine because I think the colours work well and I really like the brand logo. This was something that stood out to my target audience when I asked for feedback on my magazine.

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